The three members of the Capitol Police Board, which oversees the operation of the Capitol Police, voted to designate as a death in the line of duty the suicide of a Capitol Police officer who was one of those attacked during the January 6th Republican-led domestic terrorist attack on Congress, Politico reports.
After staying on duty for days straight after being attacked and injured by the domestic terrorists on January 6th, 51-year-old Howie Liebengood took his own life on January 9, 2021. Liebengood is one of two officers who took their own lives after the January 6th attack. He was the son of former House Sergeant at Arms Howard Liebengood, who was in that position in the early 1980s. After his death, the Capitol Police named their new psychological services center after Howie Liebengood.
The decision of the board–which is made of the Sergeants-at-Arms of the House and the Senate as well as the Architect of the Capitol–allows the families of Liebengood and the other officer, Jeffrey Smith, to receive benefits and honors befitting an officer killed on duty.